Emergency services kept busy as downpour causes flash flooding

MOUNT Gambier emergency service personnel had their hands full on Friday night when an unrelenting downpour of rain caused flash flooding across the city.

With close to an inch of rain falling in the city between 5.30pm and 9pm, the call-outs started to come in thick and fast to both the State Emergency Services (SES) and Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS).

Among the most serious incidents to occur was at Thai restaurant Wild Ginger, where the ceiling partially collapsed during peak business time.

Mount Gambier SES unit manager Simon Poel said the premises had to be evacuated and volunteers were required on the scene for around two hours.

“Earlier in the night we attended because of a tripped circuit breaker and then were called back following the ceiling collapse,” he said.

“There was such a large downpour, some clogged drains and gutters caused the ceiling to become saturated.”

Metropolitan Fire Service retained station officer Rob Baker said his crews were also involved in the job.

“We were just there to assist with some flashing and to unblock drains,” he said.

“We then helped clean-up the gyprock material from the collapsed ceiling.”

Mr Poel said this type of flooding occurred during the warmer months “once every couple of years”, but admitted Friday’s rain was significant.

“We were on pretty high alert given the forecast and ended up having around 12 jobs between 5pm and 1am, which included a number of residential houses with water entering through cracked tiles,” he said.

“There was also another shop on the main street that had a blocked downpipe which caused water to drip down inside the windows.”

The unprecedented summer downpour also led to flooding in the heart of the city streets, which even surprised City Council’s city infrastructure general manager Nick Serle.

“I have never seen that amount of water on the road at the Main Corner,” Mr Serle said.

“We have got no reason to believe there is any problem with the drainage system, it was just caused by the amount of rain we had in such a short period of time,” he said.

Focusing on the positives of the rain, Mr Serle said Friday’s weather would do no harm to the environment and tourism aspect of the city.

“The Cave Gardens waterfall was just spectacular and this rain will make the city pretty green again, which is unusual for this time of year,” Mr Serle said.

“We had the street sweepers and footpath sweepers out on Sunday to ensure everything looked clean following Friday’s weather.”

Mr Poel said Friday’s weather event was a timely reminder for residents to ensure their properties were maintained during the year.

“It does not hurt to get up on the roof and check your gutters every three months to ensure they are clear,” he said.

“Just doing some preventative maintenance can save a lot of heartache and insurance issues down the track.”

After a solid night’s work, Mr Poel praised his crews for doing an outstanding job.

“We had around 10 volunteers out and about Friday night and I was very pleased with how they responded,” he said.

“It was the same statewide, I know in Adelaide they were flat out as well, so it was a good job all round.”

The help was not lost on the general public either, with a passerby stopping to extend her gratitude to the volunteers when they re-visited Wild Ginger yesterday.

“Thank you for everything that you do,” she said.